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Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

When they are telling you to click on your desktop they mean the page with your "background" on it. The page that comes up after you start your computer and log into your computer. Right click on that page and select properties. I hope this helps.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

Yeah, I understand about the background. I don't have access to the buttons they're talking about. I'm pretty sure it's because the icons affected are not generatede by the software but, rather, shorcuts I have created by dragging the url onto the desktop.

I have had this happen before and I got it solved but cannot remember how....very frustrating.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

Originally Posted by duraleigh

Yeah, I understand about the background. I don't have access to the buttons they're talking about. I'm pretty sure it's because the icons affected are not generatede by the software but, rather, shorcuts I have created by dragging the url onto the desktop.

I have had this happen before and I got it solved but cannot remember how....very frustrating.

So, when you right-click on one of those icon/shortcuts you created, what happens? I get a menu, and one of the menu items is Properties. I select that, and up comes a dialog box that has tabs at the top, one of which is called Shortcut. When that tab is selected, there are a bunch of fields, one of which is called Run: it has a dropdown list, where you can select Minimized, Maximized, or Normal window.
Hope this helps,
--paulr

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

So, when you right-click on one of those icon/shortcuts you created, what happens?

Hi, Paul,

Thanks for your help.....I still can't fix it.

So, when I right click on the icon, I do get the menu that includes "properties".

When I select "properties" a new window (in this case, entitled "Trouble free Pool - Portal) opens with two tabs....one that's labeled "web document" and one that's labeled "general". There is nothing in either tab that is pertinent to my issue.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

If I'm reading this correctly, you aren't opening multiple different applications. Instead, you have desktop icons that are simply URL's to various websites. If so, then clicking on those icons will launch your preferred web browser and then display the web page that the URL points to.

This should fix it. I'll assume that you're using Firefox, but you can use the name of whatever browser that you normally use.

1. Close ALL instances of Firefox.
2. Click on Start -> All Programs -> Mozilla Firefox -> Mozilla Firefox
3. If we're on the right track, Firefox will open as a very small window, just like your other links do.
4. Adjust the size of the Firefox window to the size that you prefer (but do NOT use the maximize button. You have to drag the window out to a bigger size manually).
5. Close Firefox.

Most Windows apps remember the size that they were when last closed. If you shrunk down the browser and then closed it, it remembers that size. The next time it launches, it will open at that size. Clicking on the maximize button doesn't reset the "size" that the app remembers. It is only reset when you manually change the window size.

Since your desktop icons are just URL's, they don't contain any info about the app. Windows keeps track of what your "preferred browser" is and will open that browser for any link that you click that ends with .htm or .html. When the browser opens, it uses its last "remembered" size and then goes to the URL contained within the link that you clicked.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

Harry,

If I'm reading this correctly, you aren't opening multiple different applications. Instead, you have desktop icons that are simply URL's to various websites. If so, then clicking on those icons will launch your preferred web browser and then display the web page that the URL points to.

That's absolutely correct.

I'm using IE7 instead of Firefox but I tried what you suggested with no success.

IE7 opens up with a full (or max) window but the applications still open in small windows. It appears again to be the shorcuts that I have drug onto the desktop rather than those shortcuts that a software install creates.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

Hi, Gary,

Thanks!

I start all my programs from shortcut icons on my desktop. Those programs that are resident have automatically placed their icons onto the desktop and they open up full screen.

It's the internet shortcuts that I "drag" (or create) onto the desktop that open in small windows. So, if I open troublefreepool.com and right click on the background I can (and do) create a shortcut to that url on my desktop. Then, when I close TFP and reopen it from the icon I "created" on the desktop, it opens in a small window.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

You know, I have to say that XP is probably the most stable operating system to ever come out of Redmond, but there is always some **** like this that crops up, and there just never seems to be a reason or a fix. IE is especially gnarly because XP saves different information based upon how the program was started (I know, right?). While it is the same to us, it is different to XP if IE is started by shortcut or start menu.

If you don't mind editing the registry, you can try this:
Open the registry editor by clicking START, RUN, type regedit, and click OK.

In the registry editor, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
Highlight 'Bags' in the left-hand pane, right-click on it, and select 'Export'. Pick a file name and save it as a backup. Remember where you save this file.
Now, with 'Bags' still highlighted, delete it by pressing DEL.

Re: duraleigh has screwed up his computer (again)

I managed to reproduce your problem, but could not find a solution. Ohm-boy obviously has forgotten more about PCs than I've even known, so you might try his solution.

I opened IE7 both ways (desktop icon as well as through the menu) and no difference in behavior that way.

When I open it and go to a specific page and then create a shortcut of that link to the desktop, I find that the shortcut opens fine (meaning full screen) as long as the original IE7 session is open. This is true even if I then navigate away in the original IE7 session.

When I close the original IE7 session, though, things change. Even though the shortcuts still work, they open up as "normal" rather than "maximized". And I cannot find anything that changes that behavior.

I know this is of no help, but I'm just detailing it so that perhaps someone else might have a "Eureka" moment.

One final thought. A few days or so ago MS put out a security update to IE7 that I installed. If you did the same, perhaps that's what changed the way the shortcuts work. No need to call MS - they'll tell you that it's a "feature" rather than a "problem". Been there, done that. It's why I like Linux.